Female stars urge BBC to chop ‘I wish to be raped’ scene in Butterflies

The BBC has been urged to cut a line in classic ’70s sitcom Butterflies in which star Wendy Craig says: ‘I want to be raped.’

The episode called Breaking the Silence, with Ms Craig’s character Ria yearning to escape her humdrum life, was rerun on BBC Four last week but is still on iPlayer.

Veteran BBC presenter Dame Joan Bakewell led the protests, saying: ‘Cut the line! This isn’t a ‘joke’ phrase: Was it ever?’

Ms Craig is a bored housewife married to Geoffrey Palmer, with Nicholas Lyndhurst as one of their sons, in Carla Lane’s comedy which ran from 1978 to 1983.

In the second episode from the first series, in 1978, she muses on options to spice up her life, listing adultery, shoplifting and running through Harrods naked.

The BBC has been urged to cut a line in classic ’70s sitcom Butterflies in which star Wendy Craig says: ‘I want to be raped’

Ms Craig is a bored housewife married to Geoffrey Palmer, with Nicholas Lyndhurst (right) as one of their sons, in Carla Lane’s comedy which ran from 1978 to 1983

She says: ‘I am bored, frustratedly bored. I want to pull life through the letterbox. I want someone to meet me from a train. 

‘I want to go running across a field barefooted, knickerless, treading on buttercups. I want to be raped!’

She then puts her hands over her mouth in shock at her comments.

It is likely the scene did not spark controversy when first screened. 

But in the years since there has been a shift in attitudes to mention of sexual violence on TV. 

Novelist Dame Margaret Drabble agreed the line should be cut, saying: ‘All the rape reference does is give ammunition to those who still think rape is a laughing matter.’

Actress Dame Maureen Lipman added: ‘Post domestic abuse issues and the vicious evil of rape as a weapon of war, I think that line should be cut. 

‘Wendy Craig is such a great actress we can see in her face what she thinks she longs for. Many women will know exactly what the character implies.’

Butterflies is being rerun on BBC Four and before last week’s episode, an announcer said the sitcom ‘includes language which some of you may find offensive’.

On iPlayer, a written warning before the episode says it ‘contains language which may offend’ – an alert which can often refer to politically incorrect language.

On Saturday the BBC declined to comment on the warnings not mentioning the rape line – and whether it should be cut.

In the second episode from the first series, in 1978, Wendy Craig’s character muses on options to spice up her life, listing adultery, shoplifting and running through Harrods naked – as well as rape – prompting calls for the line to be cut

Author Kathy Lette said she wasn’t normally a supporter of trigger alerts, but ‘to my mind this is not a strong enough warning’.

‘What Ria is implying is that she wants to be desired and devoured. 

‘The word ‘rape’ at the conclusion of Ria’s plea for fun, for frivolity doesn’t make sense,’ she said.

Ms Craig, 90, was made a CBE in 2020. Ms Lane died at 87 in 2016.